


Infectious

by DashFlintceschi



Series: Illnesses/Disabilities Alphabet Challenge [9]
Category: You Me At Six
Genre: Dan has scabs on his groin, Josh has impetigo, M/M, he gives it to Dan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-22
Updated: 2014-06-22
Packaged: 2018-02-05 18:48:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1828456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DashFlintceschi/pseuds/DashFlintceschi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Josh learns why stage diving can be a bad idea.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Infectious

**Author's Note:**

> I is for Impetigo. I've had impetigo, it's not fun. I thankfully never had it where Dan does, but to be honest, having a big pus bubble in your ear canal isn't much better.

It takes discomfort and itching for Josh and Dan to learn their lesson. Dan’s always worried about Josh jumping into the crowd during shows, he’s certain that eventually, Josh is going to get hurt. What does end up happening, though, is the last thing Dan expects.

Three days after Josh last dove into a crowd, he wakes up with a strange, itchy scab on his jaw. He thinks he remembers catching a loose bit of his fingernail on it the night before, and thinks nothing else of it. Since he doesn’t think it’s anything more than a scratch, he doesn’t stop Dan when he rubs his thumb along Josh’s jaw as he kisses him good morning.

They both realise this might have been a bad idea when, a few hours later, Josh’s hands, forearms, neck and most of his face are covered in the same strange, itchy scabs. Neither of them knows what it is, though, until Matt gets a good look at it later on, and grimaces.

“Since when do you have impetigo?” He asks, and Josh frowns in confusion.

“What the fuck is that, and why do you think I have it?” He asks, and Matt sighs.

“It’s a highly contagious bacterial skin infection. Those scabs of yours look like the ones I had when I had impetigo when I was thirteen,” he explains, and Josh blanches, pulling out his phone and Googles the nearest GP surgery, then phones them and makes an emergency appointment. It’s not until he gets off the phone, and he notices Dan standing making tea, scratching absently at his arm, that Josh makes the connection. Dan had touched his original scab earlier, and it had been about an hour or so before Josh saw him wash his hands.

After he’s Googled impetigo, and he knows the incubation period is one to three days, he decides to drag Dan to the doctor with him, so he can find out if there’s a way to stop it before it starts. As they’re sitting in the waiting room, though, Josh notices that Dan’s still scratching that same section of his arm. He grabs him and pulls his sleeve up, uncovering a scab exactly like his.

“That’s not possible, it hasn’t even been a full day since you were exposed,” he insists, but then the doctor calls his name, and Josh jumps up, dragging Dan with him. He has to have an answer.

As soon as the doctor has examined the scabs on Josh’s face, and confirms Matt’s diagnosis of impetigo, he pulls up Dan’s sleeve again to show him the scab, and demands to know how it can be there only a few hours after he was exposed.

“You are a couple, yes? You share a bed, and you‘re sexually active?” The doctor asks, and Josh nods without embarrassment. “Then he might have been exposed to it days ago. It takes one to three days to incubate, but due to nasal carriage, you could have passed it to him within hours of contracting it yourself,” he explains, and though neither of them have heard the term ‘nasal carriage’ before, it obviously means the infection was floating around in Josh’s sinuses or nasal cavities, and he passed it to Dan simply by breathing on him at night.

He prescribes them both antibiotics and a bactericidal ointment, and tells them not to share cutlery, glasses or towels with anyone until it clears up; to wash their clothes and bed linen daily; and to gently wash every scab with mild soap and warm water and let them air dry. They both agree to this, but Josh realises that may not be as easy as it seems when they’re sitting in the chemist, and he notices Dan trying to inconspicuously scratch his groin, and he remembers he’d given Dan head two nights ago, which, added with the fact that Dan has a habit of scratching his balls when he first wakes up, points to the massive chance that Dan has scabs on his groin, which Josh has to stifle a laugh at.

When Dan washes his quickly multiplying scabs a few hours later, he decides ‘fuck it’, and wanders out of the bus bathroom completely naked. As he goes over to the kettle to make tea, he can feel four sets of eyes on him.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Chris asks incredulously, and Dan turns to face him, with absolutely no shame.

“The doctor said I have to let the scabs air dry, and thanks to Josh giving me head before he knew he had it, I have scabs on my dick, what else am I supposed to do?” He defends, and Max turns to Josh and makes it clear that he wasn’t focusing on what everyone else is.

“How the fuck can you still walk?!” He demands, and Josh laughs with a smug grin.

“I told you,” he reminds him smugly, referring to the time Max had jokingly asked him how big Dan’s dick was, and he’d answered by stacking two Coke cans and nodding to them pointedly.

“I thought you were joking!” He laughs, and Josh shrugs with a grin.

It takes nine days for both of them to be clear of the infection, but thankfully, they avoid giving it to any of the others, though quite a few fans were left disappointed after they both had to decline their requests for hugs, despite them explaining that they don’t want to give them the infection. After they’re clear, they’ve definitely learned their lesson. Josh doesn’t jump into crowds any more, and if either of them has anything remotely resembling a cold sore or a scab, they keep well clear of each other until it’s gone. Dan’s especially vigilant, he doesn’t think he’ll ever forget the infuriating, unrelenting itch in his groin, _ever_.


End file.
